Death stalks LoC: A tale of two martyrs

Indian army soldiers, LNK Hemraj (L) and LNK Sudhakar Singh, who were allegedly killed by Pakistani soldiers. HT Photo

Lance Naik HemrajThirty-two-year-old Lance Naik Hemraj was to board a train to Mathura on February 7 to go home to his family in Sher Nagar village, 17km from Kosi town in Mathura district.

His family, including his unemployed brother, which lives in a dilapidated two-room house had an additional reason to welcome him home. He had promised to have the house cemented on his return.

But instead of a home-loving and popular man, the headless body of the lance naik was brought back to his village and cremated on Wednesday.

Hemraj's wife Dharamvati, 28, the mother of their three children aged 3, 5 and 7, wailed inconsolably. His elder brother Puran Singh said, "The government should get my brother's head back to give his body its dignity."

Grieving residents of the village said they were angry at the cowardly and barbaric manner in which Hemraj was killed by Pakistani troops but were proud that a son of soil made the supreme sacrifice for the nation.

Village gram pradhan Dharamveer recalled, "I knew Hemraj for years as he was my junior in school. He had a dream to join the army and serve the nation."

"Our Prime Minister and home minister should act tough and ensure that a befitting reply is given for this cowardly act. There is no room for discussion left and it is time for some tough talking," Dharamveer added.

- Hemendra Chaturvedi

Lance Naik Sudhakar SinghJabalpur/Rewa: The body of Lance Naik Sudhakar Singh (28), who was one of the two soldiers killed in Pakistani intrusion across the line of control (LoC) near the Mendhar sector in Jammu on Tuesday, arrived at Jabalpur's Dumna airport on Wednesday at around 7pm.

A special army plane flew the body to Jabalpur, from where it was to be taken by road to his native village Dadia in Sidhi district, 550 km northeast of Bhopal.

Sudhakar belonged to the Krishna Ghati Brigade of Rajputana Rifles, said Subehdar Jaikant, who accompanied the body.

At the airport, Jabalpur mayor Prabhat Sahu, MP Rakesh Singh, Jabalpur station commander brigadier KK Thacker, collector Gulshan Bamra and several other civil and military officials paid homage to him.

Sudhakar had joined the army nine years ago at 19.

While Durga, Sudhakar's wife, was inconsolable, for father-in-law Manendra Singh, an ex-service-man, anger seems to have now replaced the shock of losing his son-in-law. "The time has come to wipe off Pakistan from the face of the earth," he said.

Between sobs, Durga, who is a B Com student at the Girls Degree College in Rewa, said she wanted similar treatment for the Pakistanis who mutilated her husband's body. Her father wants the little Bhaskar, her son, to also join the army.